When she was only 16 years old, Noura Hussein was married off by her family. She quickly fled to avoid the forced marriage and stayed with an aunt for three years until her family tricked her and forcibly returned her to her husband and his family.
The harsh decision came from court in Omdurman, Sudan, where the May 10 sentence has garnered much attention. A petition to the Sudanese government has already accumulated over 350,000 signatures in Hussein’s defense. Several women have used the hashtag #JusticeForNoura to share Hussein’s story and the petition. Her lawyer has until May 25 to appeal the court’s sentencing.
Along with @UNFPA & the @UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, we join the people of #Sudan who are appealing for clemency in the case of teen bride & rape survivor Noura Hussein. #JusticeForNoura https://t.co/qJI8gbiNX6
— UN Women (@UN_Women) May 13, 2018
A Twitter supporter who claims to have attended Hussein’s sentencing wrote the judge asked the husband’s family to forgive her. Instead, they demanded her execution, and when the judge obliged, they cheered. “When I left the court the rapist’s family were clapping with joy and had smug looks on their faces – I was disgusted,” the supporter wrote.
what happened today at noura’s hearing #JusticeForNoura pic.twitter.com/kVQwSoHEov
— #JUSTICEFORNOURA (@kbegghead) May 10, 2018
Tara Carey of Equality Now had more words of support for Hussein’s case. “The constitution further provides that the ‘state shall protect women from injustice and promote gender equality’, and that ‘all persons are equal before the law and are entitled, without discrimination, to the equal protection of the law,’” she said. She told The Guardian that Equality Now will send a letter about the case to the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, asking for him to intervene.
Sudanese activist Sarah Elhassan told AJ+, “We have the case of a woman who was raped by a man who was not her husband because she never agreed to the marriage. Then when he tried to rape her again, she killed him in self-defense. Now, she might be executed for it.”
Child Marriage Victim on TrialA victim of child marriage could face the death penalty. She killed the man who tried to rape her, so activists are demanding #JusticeForNoura.
Posted by AJ+ on Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Muslim women, particularly, are voicing support for Noura in a very public way. While other women in Hussein’s situation may not have caught the attention of other Sudanese women and international activists, her case could change how women are treated in the country’s courts and in the practice of forced marriage.
Marital rape is not considered a crime in Sudan, but this case may also challenge those attitudes.
If her lawyer succeeds in appealing the sentence, Hussein would only face jail time and fines instead of losing her life.